4887 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Dam\ 
THE NEW YORK DAIRY AND CATTLE 
SHOW. 
As a display of superior dairy cattle, the 
exhibition was undoubtedly a great success. 
It is doubtful if a finer lot of dairy cattle were 
ever before brought together. The other fea¬ 
tures of the show were disappointing. The 
exhibits of butter aud cheese were ridiculous¬ 
ly small, and we have seen many larger ex¬ 
hibits of dairy implements. The affair was a 
cattle show with a dairy attachment. It has 
been claimed repeatedly that the real object 
of the managers was to create un increased 
interest in dairy stock of the four selected 
breeds, and attempt a return to the. “boomed” 
prices of former years. If this was the design 
of the managers, it was most admirably plan¬ 
ned and executed, for a more satisfactory dis¬ 
play of phenomenal cows could not possibly 
have been made. A scrub or an ordinary 
farm cow would have been lost in their soci¬ 
ety, and likewise a common farmer would 
have found himself out of place in tho crowds 
which surrounded the animals. It was a 
breeders’ show—a fanciers’ exhibit, a select 
“high-toned" affair. Had it been intended 
for a farmer’s display, to help those who most 
need help in tho selection of cattle and in but¬ 
ter makiug, there would have been grades or 
even scrubs by the side of the fumous cattle 
that one might see by direct comparison tho 
great superiority of the lntter. Those who 
exhibited had no use for this comparative edu¬ 
cation They aimed to draw the attention of 
professors of breeding and not that of students. 
CATTLE. 
It was estimated that the 500 cattle on exhi¬ 
bition were worth *1,000,000. Nearly one- 
half the entire number were Jerseys. These 
were headed by the famous old “Kurotas,” 
one of tho most celebrated cows in the world. 
She is about the ideul shape for a butter cow— 
a short, chuuky animal with short legs, flue 
neck and head, wide chest, immense stomach, 
aud tremendous udder, with milk veins over 
an inch in diameter. Her back is broad and 
flat, and her tail very small and slim. There 
were dozens of other line Jerseys, but old 
“Eurotas” was tho center of attraction. 
The Ayrshires were headed by the famous 
Duchess of Smith Held. This cow is said to be 
the best Ayrshire ever produced in this coun¬ 
try. She h as a bu tter record of over 19 pounds 
in a week and a milk record of over 10,000 
pounds in a year. She is a trifle larger than 
Eurotas; spotted fawn and white In color, and 
with the great udder, stunach and lungs 
which are characteristic of the great dairy 
cow. Most of the Ayrshire's were dark red 
and white. These seemed to lie the fuvorito 
colors. One little Ayrshire heifer dropped a 
flue calf on the first day of tho show. Our ar¬ 
tist has pictured this baby on our first page. 
Tho Guernseys made a good showing. No 
very remarkable animals were exhibited, but 
as a whole the collection averaged n.s high as 
any breed on exhibition. The Guernseys are 
beautiful unimals, larger than the Jerseys, 
more uniform iu color aud with equally prora- 
ineut dairy “points.” The Holstein-Fnesiuus 
made u magnificent display. Smiths, Dowell 
& Lanih exhibited 22 head, including Clo- 
thilde, which leads the world with a milk re¬ 
cord of 2(1,021 pounds in one year. She is 
the grandest dairy cow ever exhibited, large 
and shupely and beautifully marked. Her 
udder is us lurgo as a bushel basket. The 
width between her front legs is enormous. 
Her stomach is not so large aud shapeless as 
that of Kurotas and Duchess of Smithfleld, lint 
it is long and deep. Hhe has the slim tail, tbiu 
neck and beautiful head which all good dairy 
cows seem to possess. F. C. Stevens aud 
James Neilson showed some fine cattle. The 
former headed his herd with the grand bull 
Coustantyn, This auimai is literally a moun¬ 
tain of meat. With the cows Jewel, Mecht- 
childe, Calantha, aud Hollander, 2d, ho took 
the prize for best herd of Holsteius. There 
can be uo doubt that, the Holsteius are very 
popular. People Still like size in their cattle, 
aud these beautiful, shapely’ cows are very 
popular. 
FEED AND CARE. 
These high-priced cattle are evidently well 
cared for. They are rubbed and brushed 
every day as carefully as a raoe-horsu would 
be. Their stalls are os clean as a room for 
human beings. On the boards a thick layer 
of peat moss w as spread. Over this a thick 
layer of straw was placed. The peat moss is 
a tine absorbent. The cattle were fastened 
with leather neck straps and chuins. They 
were fed clover hay, grain and roots. We saw 
great chests of sliced carrots which were 
bi ought many miles to feed to a cow entered 
foi the milking test. The cows were 
given all tho water they could driuk. 
Most breeders declare that warming the 
drinking water in winter pays as well as any 
farm operation. Silage and roots are largely 
fed. The general opinion seems to bo that 
they keep the animal system in good tone and 
are useful mainly as a supplemental food. 
While muking her great milking test, Clo- 
thilde was fed a grain ration, consisting of 
wheat bran aud oatmeal, half and half by 
weight. During the fall she had a daily rn 
tion of 16quarts of this mixture. This was 
raised to 24 quarts in winter and reduced to 
six quarts in summer. She was given at the 
same time all tho hay, green corn, silage,roots 
or green feed she would eat. It is evident that 
tho first point in running these milk and but¬ 
ter machines is to induce them to eat and 
drink all they will of sound, wholesome food. 
BUTTER AND CREESE. 
The butter and cheese exhibits were insig 
nificant enough. One small table uud taalf-a 
dozen shelves displayed all the cheese that wa* 
offered. After all, this was about as attract 
ive as tho great rows aud masses of wooden 
boxes which greet the eye at most duiry shows. 
What little butter there was to be seen wasol 
splendid quality. Butter from all four of the 
recognized dairy breeds us well as from other 
cattle was exhibited. Most of the entries were 
iu the classes for five pounds or under. The 
samples were mostly packed neatly in parch¬ 
ment paper or clean muslin, aud free from 
stamps or prints. The display of granular 
butter was the best of the exhibit. This was 
taken from the churn without working. It 
was exhibited in glass jars, so that it could be 
plainly seen. The grains ran from the size of 
fine shot to that of peas. 
DAIRY IMPLEMENTS. 
Excellent exhibits were made by the Ver¬ 
mont Farm Machine Co., Moseley & Stod¬ 
dard, Porter Blanchard’s Sons, Cornish, Cur¬ 
tis & Greene and the De Laval Separator Co. 
Several new devices for cooling milk were 
shown. On© is a long, narrow eati which lies 
on its side iu a box. Chopped Ice is pur, on 
the upper side of it. Milk is drawn from one 
end by means of a spigot. A system for seal¬ 
ing the tops of cans so that they cannot be 
tampered with en route, was shown. Hill’s 
Aerator is a device for forcing a stream of 
pure air to the bottom of warm milk as soon 
as possible after it leaves the cow. It is 
claimed that this system leaves the milk in su¬ 
perior condition. There was a very feeble dis¬ 
play of milking pails, strainers, etc. Tho 
pyramidal strainer shown by Moseley & Stod¬ 
dard is a good one. 
CREAM RAISING UTENSILS. 
Two systems were showu, the Cooley and 
the Moseley & Stoddard. These have been des¬ 
cribed many times. In tho Cooley system the 
cans are entirely submerged in cold water. 
The milk is drawn off at tho bottom and tho 
cream left in the can. In the other system 
the cans are not submerged, but a small ven¬ 
tilator is left at the top of each. The cream 
is removed by running a small tunnel with a 
long tube dowu through the milk to the bot¬ 
tom. The cream runs into the tunnel aud 
passes out through the tube. Both systems 
have many friends. They are iu every way 
superior to the old style system of tin pans 
aud shelves. 
CHURNS. 
The Vermont Farm Machine Co. made a 
great display of the Davis Swing Churn. The 
Stoddard aud other good barrel churns were 
quite numerous. Tho familiar Blanchard 
Churn was shown to good advantage. A 
rocking churn attracted some attention This 
implement is shaped Like a swing churn, but 
is mounted on stout rockers, which render it 
light to work. It looks like a lazy man’s im¬ 
plement. The American Wonder is a species 
of ice-cream freezer. By means of cog wheels, 
a lluted dasher is violently revolved in the 
milk. It is claimed that butter can be made 
in it iu throe minutes; also that the milk from 
which the butter has been made will bo as 
good as it was before the butter was takeu 
out. The absurdity of this last proposition 
about destroys auy faith we might have iu the 
other. 
BUTTER-WORKERS. 
There was little new in this line. Tho only 
one we did uot mention last week was tho 
Blanchard. In this the butter is made to pass 
dowu between two wooden rollers, which re¬ 
volve iu opposite directions, thus squeezing 
the moisture from tho butter without rubbiug 
it. 
The favorite butter package seems to lie a 
light, round box, a number of which can be 
inclosed in a heavy, irou-bouud box or a 
lighter crate. No exhibit was made of the 
cheap gift packages which many dairymen 
need. Small plats of butter were sold in 
neat pasteboard boxes, trimmed aud tied with 
light ribbons. 
Several “dairymaids” sold Jersey milk at 
10 cents per glass. Another person with a 
striking display of bare arm, red stocking and 
low dress atteinpod to portray_the poetry of 
the milkman’s life by patting the cows and 
carrying about a milking stool which no hu¬ 
man being could have used. This feature 
might well have been omitted from the show. 
Two big Canadians sold kumyss made at 
the homo of Mary Anne of St. Lambert. 
This kumyss is getting to be a very fashiona¬ 
ble drink. It is really fermented milk. It 
has a taste like very sour butter-milk and is 
quite thick and elioesy. It allays the thirst 
and one can drink a great quantity of it with¬ 
out feeling uncomfortable. 
The Watter’s Fire Escape Cattle Fastener 
seems to work well. By pulling a lever at the 
end of the building every chain falls to the 
floor and the cattle are free. Many cattle 
have been destroyed through lack of time to 
free them in time of fire, from the old style 
stanchion or chain halters. 
Lumps of rock salt for the use of cattle were 
shown by the Itetsof Mining Co. This sub¬ 
stance is furnished in lumps of any size and 
shape. A largo lump placed in a box in the 
pasture will supply all the salt needed for a 
season in a herd of stock. It is a better way to 
salt stock than to throw the fine material over 
the ground. 
Brown’s Fence Builder was used in making 
the stock fences at the show. This implement 
seems to be an excellent one. It builds a 
strong, serviceable fence, readily and quickly. 
The pickets ore woven into the wire with 
great rapidity. Mr. Brown states that the 
great objection he has to meet is the idea that 
this fence is for a garden or some place where 
only a light defence is needed. This idea is 
wrong. The fence as prepared at the show is 
amply strong onough to resist the passage of 
stock of all kinds. 
The merits of Small’s Calf Feeder were well 
shown. Feeders containing both milk aud 
water were exhibited. A Jersey calf gave a 
very practical illustration of the usefulness of 
the feeder. He seemed to enjoy his food and 
the method of obtaining it, immensely. The 
merits of this implement have been discussed 
from all sides. Certain it is that it supplies 
milk to the calf in a natural and easy 
manner. 
Good butter was made before the eyes of 
the crowd. The milk was taken from the cat¬ 
tle on exhibition. The cream was raised in a 
Cooley Creamer, churned in a Davis’ Swing 
Churn, worked with an Eureka Butter-Work¬ 
er, and packed into a Cooley Improved Butter 
Carrier. 
The De Laval Separator Co. made a good 
exhibit. By the separator the ereaui is driven 
from the milk while it is yet warm from the 
cow. The general feeling has always been that 
these machines cost too much money to permit 
a common farmer to obtain one. Again, it has 
been thought that it could not be successfully 
run without a steam engine. A hand separa¬ 
tor was on exhibition. This maehiue will sep¬ 
arate 260 pounds of milk per hour. One man 
can easily run it. Its cost is *150. 
“ Free skim milk," was the legend display¬ 
ed over ouu of the working dairies. The milk 
was from the separator. Hundreds availed 
themselves of the offer. The milk was voted 
fully equal to the average restaurant milk. 
An excellent feature might have boeu intro¬ 
duced to test the milk from the various breeds 
for drinking purposes. Small glasses of Jer¬ 
sey, Guernsey, Ayrshire and Holstein milk 
could have been sold and the purchaser re¬ 
quested to vote for the breed which, iu his 
opinion, gave best drinking milk. Such a 
uovel feature would have been appreciated. 
A BUTTER-MAKING contest between farmers’ 
wives aud daughters would have lieeu inter¬ 
esting and instructive. The management 
missed au excellent chance to start ti genuine 
novelty when they gave this project up. It is 
all very well to see half a dozen men with white 
caps and aprons grinding out butter, but a doz¬ 
en women, each with a measured quantity of 
cream, with the tools used iu small dairies, 
competing for a prize, would have done more 
to attract attention aud teach the art of gocxl 
butter making than any other feature of the 
show. 
City people were pleased with tho show. 
The city papers devoted half a column to tho 
visit of Mrs. Langtry au<i other fashionable 
women, and said uot oue word concerning the 
breeders and dairymen who have revolution¬ 
ized American dairying. Thu “city folks" 
swmed to think that the neat Swiss cottage 
was like a typical farm-yard, that “milkmaids” 
wear their best clothes when they clean out 
the stables, and that stablemen quote poetry 
and have nothing else to do but milk the cows 
and kiss the “dairymaids." Young women 
patted the cows and thought how nice it would 
be to be a farmer’s daughter. Probably five 
minutes iu a real barn-yard would cure them 
344 
for life. A fat man dipping his hands into the 
cheese vat did not please them at all; but he 
was doing far more practical work than the 
“maids” and “swains,” their fancy conjured 
up. Still, these city people supply the best 
market for dairy goods. They are ready to 
pay well for an article that pleases them, and 
they will not touch what they do not like. 
One solitary dog attempted to show how a 
dog-power can take work out of the dairy¬ 
man’s hands, ne was a very hamble-looking 
canine. It seems to take all the spirit out of a 
dog to put him at this monotonous work. He 
is good for nothing else, aud a dog with any 
spirit will run away rather than work. A 
sheep has less pride and will do the work as 
well. These powers are not so popular as they 
were years ago. The churns of the present 
day run so easily that the powers are not 
needed. - 
A small electric motor was used to run a 
Stoddard Churn in the exhibit of Briar Cliff 
Farm. This motor occupied but a small space 
and did all the work necessary to be done. It 
seems to lie au excellent device for providing 
light power. On account of its small size it is 
peculiarly adapted for use in dairies. 
Not a single milking machine was exhibit¬ 
ed. Quite a number of these have been in¬ 
vented, but they all seem to fail in practice. 
A quantity of milk can always be secured, 
but the cow is either dried up or the udder 
and teats become sore from their use. The 
human hand is the best machine ever invent¬ 
ed, and probably inventive genius will never 
surpass it. Every other department of dairy¬ 
ing will be quickened and rendered easier, 
but a loss will always occur when milking is 
hurried or changed. 
When a thinking farmer goes to a dairy 
show and sees a cow which made 800 pounds 
of butter in a year, or 26,000 pounds of milk 
in the same time, he will be apt to go home 
and investigate tho performances of his own 
cows. A careful test, carried through several 
weeks or mouths, will surprise him. It takes 
a good cow to make 200 pounds of butter in a 
year. The average “*40 cow" will not make 
much over 150. It is needless to say that 50 
pounds of butter added to the product of each 
cow in the dairy would in 10 years leave a profit 
large enough to buy a home. This increase 
can be made. It can ouly be made in one 
way: by using more care in breeding and 
raising calves and in fuelling properly. We 
cannot expect to equal these cows on exhibi¬ 
tion at the dairy show, but we can use them 
as models. We can use bulls as nearly like 
them as we can find, and pick out the heifer 
calves that come nearest to their shape and 
“points.' - After seeing these cows, for exam¬ 
ple, no thoughtful man would attempt to 
raise a heifer calf with a thick, ragged tail, 
great legs ami head, a small stomach and thin 
chest, or a coarse, bull-like neck. 
Almost all the breeders of fine cattle at the 
show state that warm water is the most eco¬ 
nomical drink they can provide in winter. 
Most of them are very emphatic in their 
statements as to the advantages to be derived 
from this system. Some use a large kettle 
with a pipe connecting it with a tank. Others 
permit the water to slowly run or trickle over 
a wide iron trough under which are a number 
of lamps. The butts of corn-stalks and other 
rough feed that cattle will not eat can bo used 
for heating water. Such refuse will do more 
good used in this way than iu any other. 
As to dehorning, many opinions were riven. 
Some few breeders think the practice will in¬ 
jure the prepoteuey of dairy bulls. Others 
thiuk dairy cows are so mild and gentle that 
they will do no injury with their horns. 
Others cannot bring themselves to think that 
a hornless Jersey will look like a Jersey. The 
majority of breeders seem to agree that the 
horn is nothing but a weapon, of no use to au 
animal placed out of the reach of fighting, as 
all dairy cows should be. They would be 
ready to dehorn their cattle if it could be so 
arranged that all breeders Would do it. The 
best time to destroy the horn is while the ani¬ 
mal is a calf. Tho operation is then no more 
painful than that of castration. Five years 
ago breeders would not think of such a thing 
as sawing the horns off their cows; now they 
are quite ready to admit that the horns are 
useless and could be readily aud easily disposed 
of. The question is, where will the horns be 
iu five years more at this rate of progression ? 
Butter made by the Cooley system was re¬ 
markably successful at prize winning. Out of 
25 prizes awarded, 13 were made by tht Cooley 
system. These were four first prizes, four 
second prizes and five third prizes. The Ver- 
mout Farm Machine Co. offered to duplicate 
all prizes awarded to butter made by their 
process. They will have the nice sum of |810 
to’pay, aud they will gladly pay it 
PiThe great .milking [contest [for^the |largest 
